WOMAN’S POINT OF VIEW

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 34, 3 November 1928, Page 24

WOMAN’S POINT OF VIEW

> WHAT THEY DO AT THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS SOME PERSONAL NOTES, i (By Nellie M. Scanlan) • Dominion Special Service. , Geneva, September 12. Little by little the world is beginning to recognise that it is not a man’s world altogether. As there are, actually more women than men, their point of view has considerable value in decisions affecting mankind. It was the thin end of the wedge when women were first permitted to sit on boards and committees dealing with what are termed “w-omen's questions.” A broader conception of woman’s sphere has now superceded this, and we are beginning to see not women dealing with women’s affairs, but what is much more important and valuable, a woman’s point of view being invoked on national and even international affairs. What affects men, affects women, for one is the complement of the other, and their union is the, basis of homelife, which is the foundation of civilised society. The League of Nations recognising the active part played by w-omen, during the war, has asked them to participate in organising future peace. There are about a dozen women among the delegates to the League of Nations Assembly at Geneva. No woman is chief delegate, but they are fully accredited as substitute delegates. Their task is largely on the commissions or committees into which the assembly is split up, for investigation and report upon specific phases of the work. Many of these are outstanding figures in their own country, and their woman’s vision is welcomed in these intimate discussions, where the actual accomplishments of the League are registered.

Dame Edith Lyttleton has been Great Britain’s choice of woman representative for tlie fourth time. Her public activities have earned for her the title of Dame of the British Empire. Stealing away from the stale and stewing atmosphere of the League Assembly, we sat in the English garden outside, and - she spoke of her implicit faith in what the League of Nations is accomplishing in the ways of Peace. Referring particularly to the work which comes under the heading of Child Welfare, she was confident that the slow, sure educational process was gradually bringing about better conditions in countries of both East and West. The Educational Institute of Kinematography is a project by means of which it is hoped to combat the current evils of many films. We had just been listening to an Indian delegate, who said that the Christian missions had done much to improve conditions for women and children in India, but all good did not come out of the West. He emphatically condemned the samples of western civilisation which were being shown on the" film in India. “In a country where pre-nuptial love is unknown,” he said, “the conduct exhibited as the normal standard of-behaviour of these countries, has a disastrous effect upon the minds of the young.” The problems considered by the League of Nations, as Dame Lyttleton saidl are not the simple problems as we Know them in our own country. Customs, traditions . and superstitions of ancient civilisations have to be taken into account. To compose the divergent views of fifty nations is no simple task, but that is necessary before any concerted step forward can be made.

Australia is the only other British territory which has included a woman in the delegation. She is Mrs. Edith McDonnell of Adelaide, a noted social worker, a magistrate, and a very able woman. She speaks only when she has some important contribution to make to the discussion; she is frank and clear and decisive. Frau Brumann of Germany is a member of the Reichstag. Mdlle. Hesselgren of Sweden is a Senator and Madame Kluyner of Holland is under Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Mdlle. Forchhammer of Denmark and Madame Hainari of Finland are both very prominent women in public life, and closely associated with the National Council of women. Norway’s representative is a Doctor of Medicine, Dr. Ingeborg Aas, while Rumania’s plump little lady is a distinguished poet, a woman of the aristocracy, and the first woman in Rumania to take an active part in public affairs. Finally, there is Countess Apponyi of Hungary, wife of the tall, frail old aristocrat who represents Hungary on the delegation. But these women do not exhaust the activities of their kind at Geneva. One of the ablest interpreters is a woman. She has a marvellous memory, and an extensive vocabulary in several languages. This is the daughter of Dante Gabriel Rosetti.

In the crowded lobby you will see a Polisli woman making quick sketches of the delegates. She is a well-known artist. A few strokes of her pencil, a touch, a little shading, and there is a wonderful portrait revealing all those subtle qualities of personality. : Women lecturers from America sit in the gallery taking notes. Women aspirants for Parliament —Liberal, Labour, Socialist —whose eyes turn towards Westminster,.follow events witty keenest interest. Women graduate's from Oxford— English, Colonial, yesj and Indians in their gay silk saris, and a Chinese girl in her silk, baju jacket-4-thke a practical course in the League,'of Nations. Efficient women officials of the League, control responsible departments. But who is that in black satin, sitting quietly in the gallery? It is Mi’s. Woodrow Wilson, widow of the American President who laid the foundations of the League of Nations. Every year she makes this pilgrimage, to pay homage to this, his living memorial, the League of Nations.